Embedded Case Study Methods

Title page of Embedded Case Study Methods

Contents

Introduction

PART I: Case Studies Design and Synthesis

Types of Case Studies
The Use of Case Studies in Different Disciplines
The Architecture of Knowledge Integration in Embedded Case Studies
The ETH-UNS Case Study Zurich North

PART II: Methods of Knowledge Integration

Overview
The Methods en Bref
How to Choose the Right Method

PART III: The Methods in Detail

Formative Scenario Analysis
System Dynamics
Multi-Attribute Utility Theory
Integrated Risk Management
Mediation: Area Development Negotiations
Future Workshops
Experiential Case Encounter
Synthesis Moderation
Material Flux Analysis
Life Cycle Assessment
Bio-Ecological Potential Evaluation

PART IV Validation Perspectives

On the Validation of Embedded Case Studies

References
Index

Scholz, R.W. and O. Tietje, Embedded Case Study Methods: Integrating Quantitative And Qualitative Knowledge. 2002, Thousand Oaks: Sage. ISBN Hardcover 0-7619-1945-7, Paperback 0-7619-1946-5.

Authors: Roland W. Scholz ( ETH-UNS) and Olaf Tietje (Now: SystAim)

Published By: Sage Publications, Inc.

“The authors have developed an important methodology to integrate complex cases. Their approach combines the best of quantitative and qualitative methodologies to create new insights that would not be available to researchers using more conventional approaches.”

MAX H. BAZERMAN, Jesse Isador Straus Professor of Business Administration, Harvard Business School.

"If you were part of a study team trying to figure out what to do in a complicated (i.e., multi-party, multi-issue, technically complex) situation, you would want to rush out and get a copy of Embedded Case Study Methods by Roland Scholz and Olaf Tietje. Using their own Zurich North case study to explain the proper use of case study methods, they demonstrate how eleven different techniques – including integrated risk assessment, multi-attribute utility theory, scenario analysis, future workshops, and a kind of mediation called Area Development Negotiation – ought to be used to develop collaborative solutions. Along the way, they destroy conventional distinctions between quantitative and qualitative methods and offer (finally!) an integrated approach that applies equally well to problem framing, option generation, and the management of stakeholder encounters. Most of the relevant literature (from more than a dozen disciplines) is reviewed in detail. What more could a study team member want?"

LAWRENCE SUSSKIND, Ford Professor of Urban and Environmental Planning at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and co-author of the award-winning Consensus Building Handbook (Sage, 1999).

Eleven Methods of knowledge integration are presented, which can be used for case representation, case evaluation, and case development and transition. The authors share their broad knowledge of the philosophy of science to explain the rationale behind each step of embedded case designs, and recap each explanation with concept summaries called “lessons to be learned.” In addition, they include a variety of boxes that offer practical assistance for doing the statistical and qualitative analysis.

“Do we need another book on case studies? After reading the book Embedded Case Study Methods by Roland Scholz and Olaf Tietje even genuine sceptics will be convinced that the answer is a resounding yes!

The book is wide ranging in its interdisciplinary approaches and yet focused, rich in background and context, theoretically sound and yet highly practice- oriented. No wonder: the eleven case methodologies presented in the book are rigorously field-tested and validated by the authors and their staff and students at ETH Zurich in a series of innovative case studies exemplified in the Zurich Nord case study. The book is highly recommended to both students, teachers and other professionals working in fields ranging from business and management studies to education, public health, land use planning and environmental sciences.”

ANTON J.M. SCHOOT UITERKAMP, Professor of environmental sciences and chairman of the Center for Energy and Environmental Studies IVEM at the University of Groningen.